Establishing a Daily Practice - Discovering Buddhism (8 January 2008)

· · · silence, 6 minutes

6:27 I think so. Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

6:47 Okay. No, it's there. Report an error in the passage at 6:47 Highlight the passage at 6:47

6:59 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 6:59 Highlight the passage at 6:59

7:05 Yeah. Sorry, I turned it back down again because I thought, no. Yeah, try the one that's in the middle, the middle, like towards, okay, on the bottom. I can see it. There, keep going. Warmer, warmer, warmer. Hot. There you go. There you got it. Let's see if you're getting anything there. Report an error in the passage at 7:05 Highlight the passage at 7:05

7:25 Hello, hello, hello. Yeah. Oh, hello. All right. Hello. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

7:36 Hello. Welcome to. Report an error in the passage at 7:36 Highlight the passage at 7:36

7:47 Hello. Yeah. Okay. That's not. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 7:47 Highlight the passage at 7:47

7:53 No, it's not. All right. Hi. How's everybody? Report an error in the passage at 7:53 Highlight the passage at 7:53

8:05 Let's start with a little meditation, shall we? Report an error in the passage at 8:05 Highlight the passage at 8:05

8:11 And then we'll do some, I'll sort of introduce myself and go over some logistics and I'll allow people to go around and talk a little bit and introduce yourselves a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 8:11 Highlight the passage at 8:11

8:21 But I always like to start with meditation, so just humor me. It's always for me. There's nothing to do with you. Report an error in the passage at 8:21 Highlight the passage at 8:21

8:30 All right. So the first thing that we're just going to do is do a mental scan of our posture. And if you're seated in the chair, you just want to make sure you're not leaning against the back of the chair because it gets a little too easy to get a little too relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 8:30 Highlight the passage at 8:30

8:47 Because the most important element of your posture, whether you're in a chair or on a cushion, is keeping your spine extended. And I also think keeping your shoulders back. Those two together, not like in an arched, unnatural way, but just rolling them back once and making sure that they're level. Report an error in the passage at 8:47 Highlight the passage at 8:47

9:17 There are a lot of different ways that you can have your legs if you're on a cushion, but the main thing is to have them in a way that feels comfortable for you, that you can hold and that you feel stable. Report an error in the passage at 9:17 Highlight the passage at 9:17

9:34 In this tradition, we usually have our hands in our lap, right over left, thumbs touching lightly, but you can also have your hands on your knees. Report an error in the passage at 9:34 Highlight the passage at 9:34

9:54 And it's also traditional to have your eyes open. And they say that it actually helps you build stronger concentration. But if you've been meditating for a while with them closed, it takes some effort to change it. It's worth the effort. Report an error in the passage at 9:54 Highlight the passage at 9:54

10:14 But if you're like me, meditating in a group is a bit of sensory overload. So I tend to, when I'm in a group, I tend to meditate with my eyes closed. And that's fine. Report an error in the passage at 10:14 Highlight the passage at 10:14

10:29 It's good to have the tongue, your tongue on the roof of your mouth, behind your front teeth, but not touching. Report an error in the passage at 10:29 Highlight the passage at 10:29

10:40 Actually keeps your mouth moist, but it also relaxes your jaw a little bit, which is good. We hold a lot of tension in our jaws. Report an error in the passage at 10:40 Highlight the passage at 10:40

11:00 And the final element is your breath itself. We're going to start with a short meditation on the breath, and you don't need to change your breathing in any way. You don't need to make it deeper, louder, more rhythmic, or anything other than it is right now. You're just observing it as it is. Report an error in the passage at 11:00 Highlight the passage at 11:00

11:32 So just start with watching your breath either at the level of your belly or the level of your chest or the level of your nostrils, just the sensation of the air entering and exiting your body. You can count it if you want, but you don't need to. This is completely an exercise of just trying to build concentration. Report an error in the passage at 11:32 Highlight the passage at 11:32

11:53 So no matter what else happens, no matter what other sounds, either inside the building or outside the building, or Whatever else is happening in your mind, that's all distraction. The object is simply the breath. So you just place your mind on the breath and keep placing your mind on the breath as many times as it takes. Report an error in the passage at 11:53 Highlight the passage at 11:53

· · · silence, 2 minutes

14:34 And once your mind begins to calm down a little, we just take a moment to set our motivation for this class, Report an error in the passage at 14:34 Highlight the passage at 14:34

14:48 taking this opportunity to study together, figure out what a practice is and how to create one that works for us. That really works for us. That really helps us move our mind, change our mind. Report an error in the passage at 14:48 Highlight the passage at 14:48

15:13 So start with imagining yourself surrounded by all beings. Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:24 The people that you find most difficult or challenging in front of you, mostly because you don't really want to look at them. So you place them right in front. And the people that you love behind you, because we'd rather it be the opposite way around. Report an error in the passage at 15:24 Highlight the passage at 15:24

15:51 And then imagine all other living beings spreading out like an ocean or a vast sky filled with beings in all directions. Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

16:01 And for this purpose you can imagine them all as humans. Report an error in the passage at 16:01 Highlight the passage at 16:01

16:20 And then think about some of the suffering that you experience in your own life Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:30 as well as the suffering that you see in your friends' lives, your family's lives, you read about in the newspaper or watch on TV. Report an error in the passage at 16:30 Highlight the passage at 16:30

16:44 People you see on the streets or you work with. Report an error in the passage at 16:44 Highlight the passage at 16:44

16:52 People in areas that have been completely shattered by war for generations and generations. Report an error in the passage at 16:52 Highlight the passage at 16:52

17:03 People who are suffering due to addiction, disease, loss, mental illness. Report an error in the passage at 17:03 Highlight the passage at 17:03

17:23 And think about how unbearable it is for us to see this suffering day in and day out and how much we'd like to be able to relieve this suffering if we could. Report an error in the passage at 17:23 Highlight the passage at 17:23

17:39 This is compassion. Report an error in the passage at 17:39 Highlight the passage at 17:39

17:48 And think about how much we'd like to bring happiness into all these beings' lives, if we could. And this is love. Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

18:01 Think about how amazing it would be to not only do that once for all beings, but to be able to actually bring the causes for limitless happiness and to remove the causes of all suffering. Report an error in the passage at 18:01 Highlight the passage at 18:01

18:24 So for this to be a Dharma activity, something that's worthwhile for ourselves and others. Report an error in the passage at 18:24 Highlight the passage at 18:24

18:36 It's really important to listen with a good motivation. Report an error in the passage at 18:36 Highlight the passage at 18:36

18:42 And the very best motivation is to listen with this intention to put these teachings into practice so that we can actually begin to remove this suffering and to bring happiness to those around us and to ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 18:42 Highlight the passage at 18:42

19:09 And maybe this is much huger than any kind of motivation we've ever had before, but we can just begin to try it on for size. Report an error in the passage at 19:09 Highlight the passage at 19:09

19:23 We can aspire to it. Report an error in the passage at 19:23 Highlight the passage at 19:23

19:33 So think, may I listen to these teachings tonight and in this course, not just for my own happiness and to remove my own suffering, but to try to be able to remove the suffering of those around me. Report an error in the passage at 19:33 Highlight the passage at 19:33

20:01 And then when you're ready, you can end your motivation and we'll start with an opening prayer. Report an error in the passage at 20:01 Highlight the passage at 20:01

20:15 So there should be, you should have a white prayer book in front of you. You might need to look on with somebody near you. On page 8 of that, there should be a picture of the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:28 That's how you know you're on the right page. We're going to do this three times and this one will be refuge and bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 20:28 Highlight the passage at 20:28

20:40 Tim, why don't you sit up here in the front and be brave. Report an error in the passage at 20:40 Highlight the passage at 20:40

20:51 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 20:51 Highlight the passage at 20:51

21:21 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Until I reach full enlightenment, inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 21:21 Highlight the passage at 21:21

21:53 With the wish to free all beings I shall always go for refuge. To Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 21:53 Highlight the passage at 21:53

22:25 I've heard that they ask us to do them three times because maybe once we'll actually realize what it is we're saying. Which is actually pretty accurate. Report an error in the passage at 22:25 Highlight the passage at 22:25

22:40 Do people not want the middle light on or can I have Sarah turn that middle light? It's just the middle switch. Do you mind just giving it a poke? I think it just didn't get turned on. Is that okay? Is that too bright for people? No, you just turned it back off again. Report an error in the passage at 22:40 Highlight the passage at 22:40

22:59 Oh, it's a secret. There you go, thanks. Is that all right? My eyes are old, so I need more light. So welcome. My name's Chokyi, I think. No, I don't know everybody, so that's good. So there's some new faces I see, and there'll be a moment right before the break that we'll go around and people can introduce themselves and kind of say how they came to this class and what they, you know, what they're looking for. Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:28 If they want, or at least just who they are. Report an error in the passage at 23:28 Highlight the passage at 23:28

23:34 So I'm just going to start with a little bit about me and then a little bit about logistics tonight, just kind of what you guys can expect. Those of you that have taken classes from me before probably have a, it's not going to be any real surprises. I'm not going to suddenly change and make you all do like dance projects or something. But I think it's always good to just kind of go through the logistics in the first class. Report an error in the passage at 23:34 Highlight the passage at 23:34

23:58 So my name is Lobsang Chokyi and I'm the program coordinator here. So I do the program, you know, inviting the teachers and deciding what's where and work with Geshe-Love about what he's teaching and things like that. So that's kind of what I do. I've been here eight years. Good Lord. Report an error in the passage at 23:58 Highlight the passage at 23:58

24:24 I've been at Zaytling for eight years, and I've been a nun for eight years, and there's a reason that number is the same. Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked me to come here and work here, and so every time I've asked him, he says, the karma's still there. The karma's still there. So here I am. I do want to make, I want to start with one apology. Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:46 I've been advertising this class as an eight-week class, and I suddenly realized today as I was working on it that it's a six-week class, but I promise that you'll get your money's worth. It's really your time's worth. It's got a lot of great stuff in it, and I guess in my mind I was thinking that it was an eight-week class, but it's a six-week class, so hopefully that's not too distressing for anyone. Report an error in the passage at 24:46 Highlight the passage at 24:46

25:08 If so, we can have a feelings meeting about it afterwards. But I do apologize. I think I even put it on the calendar that way and everything. So this is a Tuesday night class. We meet Tuesdays. We don't miss any weeks unless, of course, something happens, which can happen. But it's not scheduled to miss any weeks. Report an error in the passage at 25:08 Highlight the passage at 25:08

25:30 We don't have any soaks or special days or anything. The final day is the 12th of February. And the practice day is the 1st of March. So just keep that in your mind. This will all be on your syllabus, syllabi. It'll be on your syllabus and on the many people's syllabi. Report an error in the passage at 25:30 Highlight the passage at 25:30

25:52 Since it's a short class, the best way to get the most you can out of it, of course, is to come. That's the most important thing. Come. And if it's at all possible and if you have any interest in really... milking it, do the homework. I give homework. My homework is usually reading assignments and some kind of meditation, sometimes an additional contemplation, but usually just a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 25:52 Highlight the passage at 25:52

26:27 That being said, if you haven't done the homework, don't let that be your reason for not coming to the class. Please, just come to the class. Report an error in the passage at 26:27 Highlight the passage at 26:27

26:37 You get a lot out of coming to the class. It is possible to listen to the classes online, not always during the class. Usually it gets uploaded as a series after the class ends. But now I think I've taught a couple of these classes, so I think some of them are already online. I know that happened last time. I had somebody who was quite sick at the end. She missed. Report an error in the passage at 26:37 Highlight the passage at 26:37

26:59 She was able to listen to the last four classes of the last Karma class. So that actually kind of worked for her. But what you miss, of course, is the ability to ask questions and to hear your classmates actually talking, hear somebody else's classmates talking when you listen to a previously recorded one. Report an error in the passage at 26:59 Highlight the passage at 26:59

27:18 And there is a lot that you get out of that kind of discussion and that kind of shared questions and questioning. Report an error in the passage at 27:18 Highlight the passage at 27:18

27:29 So this is, this class, the content of this class is focusing on setting up a daily practice and what that means, what practice even means. We'll talk about that tonight a little bit about what practice means. And the format is usually we start with a meditation like that, some sort of a motivating meditation. Report an error in the passage at 27:29 Highlight the passage at 27:29

27:52 And then usually I kick right in with asking you guys if you have any questions about whatever you've been working on that week. So that way you don't have to hold it in your head for too long. You can create more space for more questions. And then I present some material. Usually then at the end of that I ask if there are questions. If you have a burning question, like I'm giving a list and you've missed number two or something like that, or something just doesn't make sense to you at all, just raise your hand. Report an error in the passage at 27:52 Highlight the passage at 27:52

28:24 I may just say, wait a second Margaret, I'll get to you in a minute, or something like that, but a lot of times I won't take it instantly because I have to finish my train of thought. My memory is failing along with my eyesight. So I usually kind of finish what I'm saying. And also sometimes when I finish that, you actually get the answer to your question. Report an error in the passage at 28:24 Highlight the passage at 28:24

28:45 So be patient. But I definitely allow lots of time for questions. I think that's how Westerners learn. I think we like to ask questions. We need to ask questions. And we need to hear each other's questions. I usually try to have a break. It tends to be... From two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through class rather than halfway through. I just, you know, it's sort of like we've created the space and then it kind of is a little disruptive to me to have it right in the middle. Report an error in the passage at 28:45 Highlight the passage at 28:45

29:17 But I do try to give you some sort of a break before we do the closing meditation. And then I always allow time for questions right before that break too. Report an error in the passage at 29:17 Highlight the passage at 29:17

29:30 This class is the eighth of the Discovering Buddhism. The Discovering Buddhism series has 14 modules to it. 13 of them are classes, although I've sort of created a little class series for the final module too. So it's kind of about halfway through, a little over halfway through. That doesn't mean that you're all supposed to have had the first seven, and if you haven't, you're going to be totally lost. Report an error in the passage at 29:30 Highlight the passage at 29:30

29:58 And it doesn't mean we're going to have a big exam tonight on the first seven and you didn't know about it. They do build on each other. If you have taken those classes, everything will make more sense. But you don't have to have taken them and you certainly don't have to have taken them in order. And most people actually don't. It's actually refreshing when you see somebody who does. Report an error in the passage at 29:58 Highlight the passage at 29:58

30:19 I think Peter's the only one in history that I've ever known. Tim, I guess. But even Tim dropped a few. Who have actually taken them, no, they didn't even take them in order because I didn't start teaching them in order. So, yeah, I don't know that anybody here at Sage and Ling has ever taken them all in order. Report an error in the passage at 30:19 Highlight the passage at 30:19

30:37 Most people take them when they can take them or based on topic. Like something about the topic grabs their attention and so then they take one and then a little bit later they'll take another one. Or they'll take... Three in a row, be really excited and then drop off the planet for a couple of years. And that happens too. And that's kind of what we're all about. That's kind of the reality, especially of an urban center. Report an error in the passage at 30:37 Highlight the passage at 30:37

31:01 People's lives change. You lose a job, you change jobs, you graduate, whatever. Leave a relationship, start a relationship. So that's fine and these are kind of built that way. You can just plug in whenever and then unplug and then plug back in again. But they definitely... If you do take a number of these, and especially of course if you take all of them or most of them, you can go to any other Tibetan Buddhist center and really have a good foundation of the Buddha's teachings. Report an error in the passage at 31:01 Highlight the passage at 31:01

31:32 It doesn't mean you will know them all. It doesn't mean you will have realized emptiness or a bodhicitta for that matter. It simply means that you have a really good foundation of the Buddha's teachings. Report an error in the passage at 31:32 Highlight the passage at 31:32

31:46 These classes... Classes are based on the lamrim, which is the Tibetan for the graduated path to enlightenment. So it's a certain number of topics that various masters, including Atisha and Lama Tsongkhapa, have pulled from the Buddha's teachings to put in a certain order that if you meditate on them, you actually can gain realizations and actually gain enlightenment from. Report an error in the passage at 31:46 Highlight the passage at 31:46

32:11 But they are not linear teachings. You know, that you can study them and meditate on them in order, but then you just keep going through them. They're more like a cycle or a spiral. And you never outgrow them. So it's not like this is the baby class and then you graduate on to the upper classes. You may graduate on to the upper classes, but as far as the lamrim topics go, you'll keep coming back to them over the course of your life. Report an error in the passage at 32:11 Highlight the passage at 32:11

32:41 And each time that you study them, They'll make more and more sense to you. And because of life changes, your own experiences in your life, purification that you've done of your own karma and merit that you've accumulated, and we'll talk about what that means in this class. Report an error in the passage at 32:41 Highlight the passage at 32:41

33:00 And just greater understanding that you have on the teachings overall will make each class have more effect on you. So it's like you can never get too much lamrim. So a lot of times when we have visiting lamas, we ask them to teach lamrim. For example, Chodron Rinpoche is coming in May and we've asked him to teach Atisha's lamrim, which is the very first of the lamrims. Report an error in the passage at 33:00 Highlight the passage at 33:00

33:25 Atisha was the first of the Tibetan masters. Actually, he was an Indian and he was invited to Tibet. To pull together these topics into some sort of a form. And he did so in a text called Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. We've asked Chodin Rinpoche to teach on that for four days in May. And so a lot of times people are like, you know, why do we always have these great lamas teach the lamrim? Don't we all know the lamrim? Well, if we don't have actual realizations in the lamrim, meaning our mind is profoundly transformed by that topic so that it's changed our life and how we act. Report an error in the passage at 33:25 Highlight the passage at 33:25

34:02 Towards each other and how we act, the kind of priorities that we set in our life, then we still need to study it. So in other words, I can understand the ideas behind death and impermanence, but if I'm not living like I could die tonight, in other words, if I'm still getting pissed off at people and blaming other people for my problems, then I haven't realized it yet. Report an error in the passage at 34:02 Highlight the passage at 34:02

34:24 So there's that difference between understanding things intellectually and understanding things like deep. The way that we really start understanding things deeply in our heart is through meditation. That's part of why I give you guys a meditation assignment to start that process or continue, as the case may be, that process of getting this stuff deeply into your hearts and your minds. Report an error in the passage at 34:24 Highlight the passage at 34:24

34:55 All that being said, the Discovering Buddhism program We can talk more about it and if anybody is interested in getting more information about it, I'm happy to bring some handouts or send you guys some additional information about it. Report an error in the passage at 34:55 Highlight the passage at 34:55

35:17 I think I'll just talk about that a little bit later. But if you feel like something is being talked about and everyone is kind of nodding knowingly or... You know, you don't understand something and you feel really stupid, please just raise your hand. Because most likely there are like two people in the front who understands it, but everybody else don't understand. Report an error in the passage at 35:17 Highlight the passage at 35:17

35:40 So don't feel like you're the only one. Just raise your hand because someone in the back will thank you. You know, they were just too embarrassed to raise their hand. And actually the person nodding maybe doesn't understand it either. Most likely I didn't even understand. So just ask. It's always kinder to somebody in the class. If you have a question, it's very likely that somebody else has a question too. Report an error in the passage at 35:40 Highlight the passage at 35:40

36:04 None of us are experts on this. We're all just students on the path. So just ask. I also wanted to ask, actually, I'm going to kind of do this throughout tonight. I do want to send around this clipboard. With a roster and have you guys fill it out. And even if you filled out registration forms and so on, this is like a quick way for me or somebody on my behalf to reach you if something changes suddenly. Report an error in the passage at 36:04 Highlight the passage at 36:04

36:39 Like if I get sick or somebody dies or, you know, we suddenly have to reach you guys. And I only say that in almost every class something happens these days. Even if you think I know your information, just give it to me again. And if it's email or phone and they're both easy ways to reach you, then that's great. Report an error in the passage at 36:39 Highlight the passage at 36:39

37:00 But if you never check your email, don't bother giving me your email address because that wouldn't reach you. So I'm going to go ahead and just send that around. If you guys don't mind filling it out, we won't... We don't use it unless we need it, but it is often quite useful. And it's also a great way, like right before the practice day, I can send out a reminder and it's all in one place and I'll have to look you guys all up one by one on our database, so that's great. Report an error in the passage at 37:00 Highlight the passage at 37:00

37:27 But the other thing I wanted to do is just, who here has never studied the lamrim or doesn't even know what I mean by that term? Is there anybody here that doesn't have that? Basic understanding. And it's okay if you have it. I'm not going to ask you to leave. What I'm thinking is I have a sort of concise document that Venema Rubina did on the Lamrim that most of you that took the last few classes have received. Report an error in the passage at 37:27 Highlight the passage at 37:27

37:57 If you haven't studied the Lamrim before, it's a useful kind of overview. So if anybody would like that, I can either send it to you by email or bring it next week. Report an error in the passage at 37:57 Highlight the passage at 37:57

38:11 Do people want to raise their hands? Okay. Of course, I don't have a pen. That would be useful. Karen, you're a lifesaver. So why don't I, let's see, just keep your hands raised. Oh, God, how am I going to do this? I'll just do the numbers right now. How's that? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Report an error in the passage at 38:11 Highlight the passage at 38:11

38:36 Do you not have it? Okay. So I'll just bring eight just to be careful. Next week. And I won't even ask who the students are because that's too many for me to remember. Is anybody interested in having any more information about discovering Buddhism? Like sort of what the program is and what the classes are that are in it. Report an error in the passage at 38:36 Highlight the passage at 38:36

39:09 Discovering Buddhism is topic based and it's an intro level. Like usually beginning to intermediate level students for that. And basic is more like... Intermediate to advanced, and it's text-based. So the classes are commentaries on texts. I can't remember how many texts there are in the basic program, but the main texts that were studied in the master's program, which is our really advanced class, the one that's getting ready to start again in Italy in January this month, which is based on the Geshe program. Report an error in the passage at 39:09 Highlight the passage at 39:09

39:51 Which is of course 25 years, you know, so it's like 25 years and then I think it now is the master's program is like five or six years if you count all the retreat requirements. The basic program is supposed to be five years. Geshe was still teaching it and it started in the year 2000. So it depends on the Geshe, it depends on how often. Report an error in the passage at 39:51 Highlight the passage at 39:51

40:13 The classes meet, ours have to be translated, so that takes more time too. So the BASIC program, even though it's called BASIC, which I think is a really dumb name, and I'm sure that's going out to the education department right now, and I'm going to get an email. Report an error in the passage at 40:13 Highlight the passage at 40:13

40:30 It's not BASIC, so I think it's confusing. There you go. Can we hold the mic up? Report an error in the passage at 40:30 Highlight the passage at 40:30

40:39 Oh, that's another point is the talking stick demonstrated by my lovely assistant. We record all the classes and then we upload them to a website where people anywhere in the world can download them, which is really helpful if you don't have any Dharma centers in your area. We are really blessed with a glut of Dharma centers. So people listen to the teachings and if they can't hear the questions. Report an error in the passage at 40:39 Highlight the passage at 40:39

41:04 No matter how dumb you think your question is, like disguise your voice, it's okay. But we really need you to use the talking stick because otherwise they're just going to hear, and then everyone will laugh, and then they'll just be, you know, it's frustrating. So just think of them when you grab the talking stick. Well, I thought the previous question was a very good question, and I just want to ask, how does Lojong and those courses fit in there, the courses that... Report an error in the passage at 41:04 Highlight the passage at 41:04

41:31 Well, there is actually a Lojong class in DB, that's transforming problems, and there's a Lojong class in BASIC, and that's Wheel of Sharp Weapons. Report an error in the passage at 41:31 Highlight the passage at 41:31

41:43 Intermediate course that Emily taught. That way she can use both her hands. Thank you. It wasn't discovering Buddhism and it wasn't as advanced as Geshe-la. So it's like in between. No, Emily's is basic. She's teaching basic. But because we were actually just talking about this, Michelle and I were just talking about it. Report an error in the passage at 41:43 Highlight the passage at 41:43

42:02 Because she teaches it as a Westerner. Two Westerners, there's no translation, and she uses exciting things like PowerPoint. She makes it more of an intermediate than an advanced. Report an error in the passage at 42:02 Highlight the passage at 42:02

42:17 Geshe-la, no matter what he teaches, always teaches at a higher level because he's this master scholar. So even when he's teaching the lamrim, it becomes a little higher. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:32 It's well worth the effort, but I know that a lot of people have... So that's, you know, he's just a really intelligent guy, you know, so he's teaching at this level. It's like sort of like bringing in an ox. I mean, it's not to say that Emily's not an intelligent person. She's incredibly intelligent, but she's, you know, Western. She's lived in San Francisco for many years before she went to the master's program. Report an error in the passage at 42:32 Highlight the passage at 42:32

42:57 She's, you know. It's just a little more accessible in a lot of different ways. And she knows what her mind went through to learn the same thing. So she kind of knows at least where some problems can arise. Whereas, you know, a Tibetan teacher, especially a very traditional Tibetan teacher, there's certain basics. Even Senla I noticed when Venerable Senla came and taught on that Sunday morning. Report an error in the passage at 42:57 Highlight the passage at 42:57

43:22 When you're Tibetan and you're teaching to Tibetans, there's this assumption. Reincarnation, not a problem. Beginningless mind, no problem. Like you don't even describe it because it's just accepted. Karma, no problem. Like there's no, you just jump past that into, whereas, you know, Emily takes the time to explain all that because she knows that's going to be an issue. Report an error in the passage at 43:22 Highlight the passage at 43:22

43:44 So it becomes more of a, you know, advanced, I'd still say advanced, beginner to intermediate for her because the topics are that way. But yeah, good point. Report an error in the passage at 43:44 Highlight the passage at 43:44

43:59 Okay. Okay. Quickie? This isn't even where I expected questions. Is there an outline of all the programs in the teaching so we know what we've taken and where we are? Yes, that's what I was talking about. Would you like to have that? There is, yeah, yeah. Okay, so why don't I, I'll just print, I'll just print a couple copies and people can decide if they want. Report an error in the passage at 43:59 Highlight the passage at 43:59

44:28 I know sometimes we've put them in the binders, but I don't know that everybody's actually interested in it. It just seems like extra paper. So that's why I'm asking this time. I'm trying to be a little more green in my thinking. So I'll just make a couple copies. And then if you don't decide that you want to keep it, then you can always just share it too. Report an error in the passage at 44:28 Highlight the passage at 44:28

44:49 Okay, so the lineage of these teachings. So you need this. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 44:49 Highlight the passage at 44:49

44:59 I'll need it again in a minute. So everything from these classes actually originated with the Buddha, the historical Buddha, or with other masters along the path. I try not to make anything up unless I have a personal experience of something that I feel might be useful, you know, my own personal experience with a certain meditation or a certain whatever. Report an error in the passage at 44:59 Highlight the passage at 44:59

45:29 But I try not to just make up this stuff because it's not very useful for you. The Buddha's teachings came about because he got enlightened. He was an ordinary being who got enlightened and then he was requested to teach. At first he actually hesitated to teach because he felt like it was actually more advanced than we could ever comprehend, especially the teachings on emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 45:29 Highlight the passage at 45:29

45:56 But then he broke down and taught, but his idea wasn't to create Buddhism. It wasn't to create a religion. He simply taught what he observed as he got enlightened in order for us or for sincere students to get enlightened as well. So that's where he was coming from. And that's kind of the way I'm going to be teaching is with this idea that these are direct instructions for us to change our lives, change our minds. Report an error in the passage at 45:56 Highlight the passage at 45:56

46:24 Even if we haven't, I'm not going to assume that all of you have decided to get enlightened. I'm not going to make that assumption. That's your own business. But that's what these teachings are designed to, is to help you get enlightened. So the reason I mention that is that Buddhism is a 2600 year old religion. Report an error in the passage at 46:24 Highlight the passage at 46:24

46:46 If Geshe was here, he'd say 2649 year old religion. Report an error in the passage at 46:46 Highlight the passage at 46:46

46:53 And there are a lot of different traditions and there are a lot of different facts and factoids out there. And a lot of people have read a lot before coming and joining a class. And so sometimes people will bring up information that doesn't really fit the scope of what we're talking about in the class. Report an error in the passage at 46:53 Highlight the passage at 46:53

47:12 And so I might try to steer you back because I'm not trying to create what I call Dharma monsters, which are basically people who collect a lot of instruction but don't actually ever apply it. And it's a dangerous thing in the West because we have access to tons of information. And so if it feels like we're kind of going off scope, I might kind of... Report an error in the passage at 47:12 Highlight the passage at 47:12

47:36 Pull you back. And that's where I'm coming from. That's what I'm thinking. If something is just burning and you want to make an appointment with me, that's great. We can talk about it later. But sometimes it kind of takes away from the rest of the class. So that's kind of where I'm coming from. And we're going to talk about sort of the danger of that tonight is just collecting a lot of information without taking time to integrate it, which is a course. Report an error in the passage at 47:36 Highlight the passage at 47:36

48:01 Practice, which is the point of this class, is really taking the teachings and going deeper with them through practice, both formal and informal. Report an error in the passage at 48:01 Highlight the passage at 48:01

48:13 So a little bit about me and my relationship with these teachings. And again, this is rehashing for those of you who have taken classes, but I always think it's useful. Traditionally, before you do a teaching, you actually kind of talk about where you got the information from. So like if you go to a teaching... Report an error in the passage at 48:13 Highlight the passage at 48:13

48:29 By His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he'll say, I received this teaching from Trichang Rinpoche. He always says it so fast that you're like, what? But the reason is so that you all know that I didn't just make this up. I mean, he does it for the same reason, even though we wouldn't care if he made it up because he's so amazing. But he says it to prove that he got it from lineage holders and that all is okay. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

48:55 So I'm trying to do the same thing. I first met the Lamrim teachings 12 years ago and received a lot of teachings from a number of teachers, including Geshe Michael Roach, Venerable Neal Houston, who taught two month-long courses at Kopan Monastery in Nepal that I attended, which are incredible things to do. Report an error in the passage at 48:55 Highlight the passage at 48:55

49:19 If anyone ever wants to know more about the Kopan courses, November courses, I'm happy to talk about that. And also a lot of teachings on the lamrim over the years by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who is my main teacher, center picture over this altar, who is also the spiritual director of this center and centers all the FMT centers. Report an error in the passage at 49:19 Highlight the passage at 49:19

49:44 And of course a number of other teachings, teachers as well, like Geshe-la and His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Rinpoche, Riba Rinpoche is a big one. Report an error in the passage at 49:44 Highlight the passage at 49:44

49:55 But one of the things that attracted me first to Buddhism is how methodical it all was, especially Tibetan Buddhism and especially these teachings on the lamrim, that you could study the qualities of enlightened beings and follow a set method and attain those same qualities yourself, which is really different than at least my experience of Christianity, other religions. Report an error in the passage at 49:55 Highlight the passage at 49:55

50:22 That I had been checking out. Very, very clear and very just practical. And so this really attracted me. But the way, again, the way that you sort of break out of that idea of it just being more intellectual information is really starting to contemplate and meditate on the teachings in between. Sessions of classes. And we're going to talk about that a little bit more in this class too. The importance of meditation and also the importance of retreat, which is extended meditation and contemplation time. Report an error in the passage at 50:22 Highlight the passage at 50:22

51:07 My relationship with this topic of a daily practice probably began with my very first classes, which I began taking in 96 from Geshe Michael Roach, who's an American Geshe, which had homework. Which is, of course, where I got the idea that it was really, really important to do homework. Because he gave little 15-minute meditation assignments and that was sort of the cornerstone of my first daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 51:07 Highlight the passage at 51:07

51:33 And it's quite useful, actually, because I didn't know, I don't think I would have known what a daily practice was if I hadn't gotten assignments. And actually, once you start taking empowerments and things like that, you actually start getting daily commitments. So then your practice builds itself. But until that time, you have some flexibility and some freedom to create a practice that is meaningful for you and then change it. Report an error in the passage at 51:33 Highlight the passage at 51:33

52:01 It can shift. So I know that one of the things, of course, I would have the meditations, but then also you would learn a text like the one that Venom Rubina was just teaching on a few weeks ago, The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation. And I would work with that for a while. I think I would work with that for a couple of years. Report an error in the passage at 52:01 Highlight the passage at 52:01

52:20 And then you'd find another short text like that and you work with that on a daily basis too. And so there are a lot of different ways that you can kind of take some of the things that you're learning in classes and bring them into your daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 52:20 Highlight the passage at 52:20

52:35 I remember probably the best, solid, consistent time of daily practice that I had. Amy? Report an error in the passage at 52:35 Highlight the passage at 52:35

52:48 Amy? She's turned off all the lights. Are you closing the bookstore? Okay, did we make that announcement? I should make that announcement before you do that. Report an error in the passage at 52:48 Highlight the passage at 52:48

53:01 Okay, so I guess the bookstore is closing. Usually I get told before and then I can announce it and then they can all go and like buy something. Report an error in the passage at 53:01 Highlight the passage at 53:01

53:14 Okay, so, oh well. Why don't you leave the lights on though because people can still go in there and get water and then I can always serve them if necessary. Report an error in the passage at 53:14 Highlight the passage at 53:14

53:25 Karen's here too. Yeah, that's good. Sorry. There's a few logistical things to work out. Report an error in the passage at 53:25 Highlight the passage at 53:25

53:42 Oh, okay. So if somebody wants a registration form and did not get one, I can email you one, actually. So maybe, do we have that roster? Report an error in the passage at 53:42 Highlight the passage at 53:42

53:59 Is this my pen or is this your pen? Report an error in the passage at 53:59 Highlight the passage at 53:59

54:04 Does somebody leave a pen? Report an error in the passage at 54:04 Highlight the passage at 54:04

54:10 Anyway. I don't know whose this is, but anyway. Who needs a registration form? Report an error in the passage at 54:10 Highlight the passage at 54:10

54:18 Okay. I can actually print you one right after class. If it's just you, that's easy. Report an error in the passage at 54:18 Highlight the passage at 54:18

54:26 Anybody else? No? Okay. Okay. I'll either print you one right after class, or if you need to go right away, then I can print it. Report an error in the passage at 54:26 Highlight the passage at 54:26

54:39 Okay. And there are membership forms on the table if you want them. Okay. All right. So I was just going to say that probably the best period of consistent daily practice that I think I've ever had outside of retreat is when I was living at, we had a nun's house that formed right after a number of us got ordained at the, we were at the old center and just up the road from the old center we had a nun's house and there were four of us. Report an error in the passage at 54:39 Highlight the passage at 54:39

55:09 And one nun did concentration practice for an hour and a half every morning and so the entire house had to be completely silent from 5.30 to 7. So we'd all like race out of bed at 520 and go get our tea. And then there was really nothing else you could do except practice for an hour and a half. Like you couldn't take a shower, you couldn't do anything else. And so actually this kind of enforced thing is actually quite useful. It was like the best practice time I've ever had. Report an error in the passage at 55:09 Highlight the passage at 55:09

55:35 It was actually a wacky time in my life because I was the director of the center. But I had a really solid hour and a half practice every morning. So actually it was brilliant. Report an error in the passage at 55:35 Highlight the passage at 55:35

55:46 And there's a couple of us now in the center now who are going to start doing the same thing. We've decided to kind of become like gym buddies, be practice buddies and get up together early and meditate together early, even though, of course, we all have rooms, but meditate here in the Gampa together precisely to create that environment of like, I have to go. Report an error in the passage at 55:46 Highlight the passage at 55:46

56:06 And actually, Jack and Judith's house has started doing that now with Emily. That's what inspired us. It's really, really important to make time for the formal time for practice, you know, meditation on the cushion. We're going to talk a lot about time off the cushion and what that's like because a lot of times people think practice is only the formal time and it's really not. Report an error in the passage at 56:06 Highlight the passage at 56:06

56:32 But it's also not only the time off the cushion. So it's like you really have to figure out a way to do both. And that actually spices up your life. It's like there's never a time that you're not practicing. It's not like you get off the hook the minute you get off the cushion. But we've all had the experience where we've had a really profound meditation experience or even contemplation experience. Like you're studying something and you're like, wow. Report an error in the passage at 56:32 Highlight the passage at 56:32

57:01 And then you go out in the street and get mad at somebody. I mean like it doesn't, you know, it doesn't really shift anything in the way that you deal with other people. And so it's sort of like you just have to constantly be shaking it up and like looking at it and figuring out ways to work with it and figuring out ways to think about it so that it always stays juicy and alive in your mind like all the time without it becoming a burden. Report an error in the passage at 57:01 Highlight the passage at 57:01

57:27 And so that's kind of the balance that we're looking for in practice. Um. And the test or the way to tell if our practice is working is if you have problems, which we all have problems, if your reaction to the problem sort of changes over time. Like your ability to deal with anything that comes up, from the tiniest problem to the hugest. So anything from a roommate getting angry at you to... Report an error in the passage at 57:27 Highlight the passage at 57:27

57:59 A diagnosis of cancer without freaking out majorly, then that's a good test of your practice working. Because as Vena Rubina puts it, practice means changing your mind. That's simply what it means. It's just working with your mind and changing your mind. That's all it is. So it's not some holy thing. It's not a bunch of words in some language that we don't know. It's not, you know, any kind of... Report an error in the passage at 57:59 Highlight the passage at 57:59

58:28 Like all of the special things are all just tools for practice. They aren't requirements for practice. Practice is what's going on in your mind. So if that's not changing, then something's not working and we can talk about what to do then too because there's lots of things you can do then too. Usually purification practice. Report an error in the passage at 58:28 Highlight the passage at 58:28

58:52 I think this would be a really good time, actually, to go around and to, first of all, if anybody has any questions, that would be great, and then we could go around and just introduce people. And if people wanted to just briefly say who you are and what led you specifically to this class, and maybe it's just it was a night you could come. Report an error in the passage at 58:52 Highlight the passage at 58:52

59:10 Like, it doesn't have to be a profound reason. I remember I was actually just at a meeting of teachers, FPMT Bay Area teachers, which I felt like totally... I didn't want to go. I kept saying I should not go. I'm not in the same room as John Landau and Venerable Renee and all these amazing teachers. But then they made me come. Report an error in the passage at 59:10 Highlight the passage at 59:10

59:31 So, of course, they started out with dyads, and I was with Venerable Renee. And we had to say our aspirations and hopes for the day. And I had none. I hadn't even thought about it. I just showed up. And here I was with him, and he was one of the co-planners of it. And I turned to him, and I said, I'm really sorry, but I don't have any. Report an error in the passage at 59:31 Highlight the passage at 59:31

59:50 And he goes, whoop! It's okay. Don't either. So it doesn't have to be profound. Don't feel like you have to make this your make or break moment. Why don't we just start with you, Tim? Who are you and what are you doing here? My name's Tim and I first came to the center when I wasn't here, when I was over in Glen Park about 10 years ago and actually started some practice and took some classes but it got away from it. Report an error in the passage at 59:50 Highlight the passage at 59:50

1:00:21 My life got busy with mundane, ordinary Western things and I'm just kind of coming back. You're one of the people that fell off the planet. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:21 Highlight the passage at 1:00:21

1:00:31 So I really want to rebuild a daily practice and I have lots of questions about how does it work and how to do it in an efficient way and how can you make it last. Right. So that's why I'm here. Excellent. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:31 Highlight the passage at 1:00:31

1:00:47 Hi, my name is Karen and I've been a volunteer since Glen Park, but I don't know Tim. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:47 Highlight the passage at 1:00:47

1:00:57 Anyway. We often have people come at different days and they. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:57 Highlight the passage at 1:00:57

1:01:06 Let's see, I've taken several of the Discovering Buddhism classes all out of order. And anyway, I wanted to take this class because when I take. yeah. Um, Report an error in the passage at 1:01:06 Highlight the passage at 1:01:06

1:01:17 The Discovering Buddhism classes, I find that I meditate every day since that's our homework. And since I haven't been in a little bit, in a few months, I've stopped meditating as much. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:31 I talked to Geshe-la about my aspirations one day and he told me, meditate more. So I know that that's the path I need. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:31 Highlight the passage at 1:01:31

1:01:45 My name is Ed. This is my second class. I took the and rebirth class. And can't really say that I'm coming back from falling off the planet. I don't really feel like I was ever on the planet in the first place. So figured that this would be a really good class to help me establish a daily practice that I could stick My name Report an error in the passage at 1:01:45 Highlight the passage at 1:01:45

1:02:16 is Alonzo and this is my second class at the center. I'm just completing the karma class so that worked out pretty good. I'm back for more. And I have established a practice of sorts that I do every day, and I'm here to make that practice stronger. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16 Highlight the passage at 1:02:16

1:02:39 My name is Stacy, and I first came to this center a few months ago to hear the teachings of Venerable Rubina. Oh, great. Yeah, and I've heard her teachings a few times, but I've never actually attended a course here. And so I just wanted to kind of get some ideas about how to implement things. Go ahead and hit the back. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:39 Highlight the passage at 1:02:39

1:03:00 I do have one other comment. I'm just going to be here for another few weeks and then I'm going to go traveling for a few months. Is it okay if I'm in the class? You can talk to Stephanie about that. She did the same thing last class. It just happens, so that's fine. If you feel, right before you leave, if you feel that you want me to send you the remainder of the classes, and actually this is a good point, if anybody for any reason knows what they're going to miss, and I know, Karen, you're going to miss a couple, and I think somebody else is going to miss. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:00 Highlight the passage at 1:03:00

1:03:29 Yeah, yeah. So that's fine and life happens. And then I can send you my notes because I write notes that I teach from and that helps you kind of know at least what I intended to cover. And then the homeworks so that at least you can kind of, you know, when you get back from your travels, you can look at them. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:29 Highlight the passage at 1:03:29

1:03:50 And the same if you just happen to get sick and can't come or have to work late or something, just contact me. And that way you don't feel totally like you're in the dark, you don't know what we've done. At least you can kind of keep up with the homeworks, or at least look at the homeworks. At least you know what the words are. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:50 Highlight the passage at 1:03:50

1:04:09 I'm Catherine, and I've been coming to the Center for West St. Glenn Park as well. And I'm here partly for a totally non-profound reason. I'm hoping Tuesdays are better than Thursdays seem to turn out to be for me. But also, I have a daily practice that I do in fits and starts, and I'd really like to establish it and stick to it. So I'm hoping this class will help. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:09 Highlight the passage at 1:04:09

1:04:34 My name is Emma, and I seem to stray from my daily practice, and I need consistency. So that's why I'm here. Kimberly, are you ready? Before we leave your side? Okay. Then there's more pressure. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:34 Highlight the passage at 1:04:34

1:04:55 Hi, my name's Sarah, and I've been coming here for a couple years now. And I took a break, and I'm dealing with a lot of old people now, and I thought I should hang out with people that get the interpermanence thing, because it's right in my face all the time. And my dog is 13 now, which is a huge deal for me. You do elder care, I should say. That's why she's hanging out with all those old people. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:55 Highlight the passage at 1:04:55

1:05:28 Hi, I'm Paul. This is my second class. I took the death and rebirth class last time. And I just wanted to try and keep up with it, be as consistent as I can. And, yeah, I definitely feel like I need to work on establishing a more regular practice. I feel like all too often, as I'm falling asleep, I realize that I haven't meditated. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:28 Highlight the passage at 1:05:28

1:05:47 And then in that moment, I try to start meditating, which is a great way to fall asleep. It's a bad habit, though. It's a bad habit. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:47 Highlight the passage at 1:05:47

1:05:59 Hi, my name is David. And about 15 years ago, I spent a summer down at Vajrapani and got to spend time with Lama Zopa. And in that 15 years since, I've kind of become a bookstore Buddhist. And so what you were saying earlier about bringing it out of the realm of the profound and kind of bringing it into your heart and making it practical is kind of what I'm trying to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:59 Highlight the passage at 1:05:59

1:06:31 I'm Margaret and I have just recently stopped doing my daily practice. When I saw that Chokyi was offering this class, it seemed the universe was presenting. So I guess I have one foot off the planet and I don't want the other to go with it. Very, very good. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:31 Highlight the passage at 1:06:31

1:06:54 Hi, I'm Stephanie. And this is my second class, but I feel like my first class, as Chokyi mentioned, I left the country. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:54 Highlight the passage at 1:06:54

1:07:04 Kind of got out of the rhythm of coming here and I'm glad to be back and I will be here for most of this class, but the last one I think. And for some reason I cannot seem to get a daily practice into my life. I too am trying to just get on the planet at this point and I have the intention and I've had it for years. I just can't seem to follow through with the action. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:04 Highlight the passage at 1:07:04

1:07:26 Don't know what that's about, but here I am. My name is Ty and I've never taken... A class here before any of the Discovering Buddhist classes. I have what I think is a daily practice, but I'm sure this class will help me find out if that's what it really is, and if not, more about what that is. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:26 Highlight the passage at 1:07:26

1:07:49 Alright, now the pressure's on. We're all on the edge of our seats. My name is Kim Mitha, and this is my second or third class. I think it's counting. And I share a similar... Report an error in the passage at 1:07:49 Highlight the passage at 1:07:49

1:08:05 Motivation and intent just to, as I said, the title of the class, establishing a daily practice and integrating that. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:05 Highlight the passage at 1:08:05

1:08:16 Thanks, you're welcome. Why don't you guys all just take a little potty break if you'd like. I mean, stretch your legs at least, nothing else. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:16 Highlight the passage at 1:08:16

1:08:27 Finish your sandwich. Yeah, exactly. Does anybody want... Report an error in the passage at 1:08:27 Highlight the passage at 1:08:27

1:08:40 So all you do know, okay. I was going to tell you before, did you get the scary message? Are you okay? Because when you pause it, you have to unpause it. And a lot of times people hit start. It's okay? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:40 Highlight the passage at 1:08:40

1:08:58 So if anybody ever does the sound, when you pause, you unpause, not hit start, because that's what gets the scary message. I know that may not mean anything to you, but somehow it'll go into your mental continuum. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:58 Highlight the passage at 1:08:58

1:09:13 So I'm going to just talk a little bit about what we mean by this idea of practice. And then we'll, you know, end with a sort of closing meditation, hopefully. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:13 Highlight the passage at 1:09:13

1:09:26 What's that? There you go. Oh, right. I did want to say, so in front of you while you were gone, you should have a binder and then everybody should have a syllabus, class syllabus. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:26 Highlight the passage at 1:09:26

1:09:42 And on the bottom of the class syllabus, it has my email address. So if you don't already have that, you can reach me. It also has the date of the practice day, which is good to keep open if you can. It's the final class day. It's a Saturday. We do a day long on a Saturday and it's just like an ending for the class. So it's really good if it's at all possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:42 Highlight the passage at 1:09:42

1:10:07 I know some people work Saturdays and things like that, that it's just impossible. But if it is at all possible to really think of it as part of the class, because it is. And it's a wonderful way to end the class. We do a lot of meditation that day. And then also you guys all have the chance, the opportunity to do a little 10 minute. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:07 Highlight the passage at 1:10:07

1:10:27 Don't spiel on something that meant something to you in the class. So it's not like don't be scared and feel like you have to do that scary thing from sixth grade of holding up your book report. It's just really low key. We just sit in a circle and people just say, you kind of do whatever. Some people, of course, do things with glitter, but we won't mention any of those people. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:27 Highlight the passage at 1:10:27

1:10:54 That's great. It also has required reading. Now clearly not everybody is doing this for credit, which just means if you're doing the Discovering Buddhism program so that you get the little certificate in the mail at the end, which, you know, it's up to you whether you are or not. And you can do that slowly and you can do it at whatever rate you want. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:54 Highlight the passage at 1:10:54

1:11:19 Then there is additional reading. And the additional reading, I don't ask of all of you guys, because most people aren't doing that. Most people are taking this for basic life information, and they just want the readings that are going to kind of help them get that. And that's the binder reading, and sometimes the occasional other reading. In this case, the daily meditation practice. We have a booklet that the FPMT put out. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:19 Highlight the passage at 1:11:19

1:11:45 I'm not sure if we have enough of them in stock, but she is ordering them. So if people don't have the funds to get that, I'm happy to. We have some loaners upstairs. I'm not big on telling you guys you have to go out and buy a bunch of books to do the class. However, if you are really into doing these classes and want a little bit more juice behind it, There are a couple of texts that are called, one of them, they're two translations of the same teaching, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hands or Liberation in Our Hands. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:45 Highlight the passage at 1:11:45

1:12:17 It was a teaching that was done in 1921 that's a commentary on the entire lamrim by Pabanka Rinpoche. And he goes into a lot of these things in a lot of detail, sometimes too much detail. For the beginning student and even for the intermediate student. And I personally have never read the whole thing from cover to cover. However, this is a great way to do it because you're usually assigned certain days in the teaching. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:17 Highlight the passage at 1:12:17

1:12:44 Like for this class, it's days four, five and six. So if you go through the entire Discovering Buddhism class, by the end you'll have read the whole book. And the only person I've ever known who did that is Tim Beatty. And he's on his way to the master's program in a week, so I must do something for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:44 Highlight the passage at 1:12:44

1:13:02 No, it's good. It just gets a little dense in places, you know. So I'm just, I'm telling you it's there. Sometimes it's great, and I'll give you quotes from there. And sometimes it's too much. So you just have to be the judge of that. You can check it out. We have a couple different translations of it in the bookstore, and you can look at it. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:02 Highlight the passage at 1:13:02

1:13:20 And I'm also happy to lend you copies of mine if you want to look at it. But I'm not assigning that on your homeworks. So that's just going to be sort of... I'm telling you it's out there and you can do it on your own. And that's it. And I gave you the suggested text. Those are suggested texts from the Education Department of the FPMT. And none of those will be on your assignments either. It's just simply where to go if I want to keep exploring this in written form. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:20 Highlight the passage at 1:13:20

1:13:52 So, um, Report an error in the passage at 1:13:52 Highlight the passage at 1:13:52

1:13:58 It's taught, and this is I think a really important thing for those of us in the West. We're really fortunate to have access to a lot of teachings and a lot of forms, especially in oral form, I mean in recorded form. We ourselves produce it at a monumental rate at this center. You can download a lot of teachings. You can also get CDs and DVDs of teachings. You can listen to tapes and things like that. It's great to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:58 Highlight the passage at 1:13:58

1:14:33 And then it can be a little dangerous if you just listen to teaching after teaching or even the same teaching over and over, which of course I'm guilty of as well, without ever spending time really contemplating it and meditating on it, which are the second two of the three points. We somehow manage to forget. We just listen to the teachings over and over. So they say that if you don't make the effort to actually practice, to integrate the teachings, which is the real meaning of practice, that it can actually cause you to become insensitive to the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:33 Highlight the passage at 1:14:33

1:15:11 And that just means that you'll hear that there's going to be teaching on the lamrim coming and your reaction is basically, oh, that's boring. Why are they doing that? Why shouldn't Rinpoche teach on Atisha's lamrim? I already know that. Or it's really simple. You kind of have this kind of bored attitude about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:11 Highlight the passage at 1:15:11

1:15:31 And your mind is hardening, basically. So they say that... They describe it actually that our minds can get harder. There's an analogy in Tibetan culture where they keep butter. Butter is really big in Tibetan culture. They keep butter in a leather pouch. And if you work the butter into the leather, the leather becomes really soft and pliable and manageable. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:31 Highlight the passage at 1:15:31

1:16:04 If you don't, it just... It becomes really hard, which is sometimes useful for their purposes because they can carry liquid things in that. For our purposes, if we don't work with the teachings and we don't work it into our mind, which is in Tibetan Buddhism or in Buddhism period, mind and heart are really the same thing, then our minds can become hardened like rocks. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:04 Highlight the passage at 1:16:04

1:16:30 And so they say that there is a danger to just continually... Getting more and more teachings, but not doing anything with them. And they say that actually it's possible to not only not progress, but to actually cause obstacles for yourself by doing that. So you actually create Report an error in the passage at 1:16:30 Highlight the passage at 1:16:30

1:16:50 There are barriers or obstructions to your progress if you just are listening to the same teachings over and over. And I think this is something that we have more of a danger of now than probably any other generation before. Because if you miss Babanka Rinpoche's teaching in 1921 in Tibet, actually the book came out and it was a bestseller, which tells you something about Tibet in 1921. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:50 Highlight the passage at 1:16:50

1:17:17 But other than that, most Tibetans probably couldn't read, so that wasn't even an option. You just missed it. Like you either were there, and maybe your friends told you a little something about it, or you didn't get it. So, I mean, that's the bum part. But they didn't have this problem of just getting teaching after teaching after teaching, you know, downloading, and just never really working with it, you know, as instruction, as personal instruction. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:17 Highlight the passage at 1:17:17

1:17:43 So they say that if the Dharma is really soaking into our minds, and when we hear even the simplest of teachings, we get this sort of warm feeling in our heart, like hearing your favorite song, they say, which I think is a really sweet analogy. Even though you've heard that song a billion times, you still get this happy feeling again to hear it. And they say that if you've... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:43 Highlight the passage at 1:17:43

1:18:09 If you go to a Dharma teaching and you hear a topic, even that you've heard it before, and you have a reaction of sort of like your hair standing on end or tears coming to your eyes, that's a good indication that you're integrating the Dharma in your life. So it's an interesting way to put it because it's not like a measurement that we might be used to hearing. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:09 Highlight the passage at 1:18:09

1:18:33 I like the Tibetan analogies a lot of times, actually. There's an emotional basis there that I like. But they say that if we, on the other hand, are still thinking I'm having this problem because of you, you know, blaming all of our problems on somebody else, basically, or thinking that all my problems are outside of my own mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:33 Highlight the passage at 1:18:33

1:19:00 Most of Buddhism period is working with your own mind, not the people around you's mind. That one comes up a lot. Some idea is really great and you want to fix somebody else's mind. You teach the person that's annoying you, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:00 Highlight the passage at 1:19:00

1:19:19 But they say that when we first start hearing the teachings, there's this gap between our mind and the teachings. And the more we integrate, the less of a gap there'll be. And eventually our minds will actually be one with the teachings. There'll be no gap any longer. If we still are blaming all of our problems on other people, then that gap is still there. So that's kind of an indication that we have some work to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:19 Highlight the passage at 1:19:19

1:19:45 Which is, I think, true for most of us most of the time. If you are who I think you are. If you are ordinary beings and not all just posing as enlightened beings to help me. Get enlightened yourself, myself. So the Dharma, the Buddha actually described or defined the Dharma as that which holds us back from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:45 Highlight the passage at 1:19:45

1:20:05 So it can also be described as the teachings of the Buddha, but basically it's those teachings that he felt would hold us back from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:05 Highlight the passage at 1:20:05

1:20:18 And of course the... The main teaching like that is this direct perception of emptiness or what's sometimes coined wisdom, the wisdom teachings. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:18 Highlight the passage at 1:20:18

1:20:33 But basically all of the Buddhist teachings are designed to hold us back from suffering or to pull us back from suffering, to teach us how to not suffer. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:33 Highlight the passage at 1:20:33

1:20:46 So the goal of the Dharma is Buddhahood. Because it's the best method to do that. It's the best method to stop our suffering and to stop the suffering of those beings around us. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:46 Highlight the passage at 1:20:46

1:20:59 And if we don't integrate these teachings into our mind, there's no way that we can progress towards Buddhahood. And in fact, we keep creating these barriers to even getting any kind of realization. I'll use this term realization sometimes. And I've never really seen it. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:59 Highlight the passage at 1:20:59

1:21:21 I see two different things that happen. Insights, what I call insights, are those kind of little aha moments that you have either in practice or in reading or in contemplating or in meditating where you get some taste that it kind of like almost takes your breath away. You know, like meditating on your own death. That'll do it. Where you kind of get this like... Report an error in the passage at 1:21:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21:21

1:21:47 It's almost like a lightning bolt. But often we get off the cushion, we go out, like I said, and get mad at somebody. It doesn't necessarily turn our life around. We don't necessarily go out and put on red clothes and shave off our hair. We haven't made some profound change in our life. We just had that moment. Those moments are really important, don't get me wrong. And they can lead towards realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:47 Highlight the passage at 1:21:47

1:22:09 But what I mean by realization, and people will use this word differently, what I mean by realization are really profound, mind-changing. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:09 Highlight the passage at 1:22:09

1:22:20 Usually that come about over a lot of time of meditating where your mind is irreversibly changed and you start acting on it. So you change the way you deal with other people. You're not going to go out and get mad at a cab driver. I just think of that example because I remember a really good friend of mine and I went to Kopan, went through this whole lamrim month. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:20 Highlight the passage at 1:22:20

1:22:45 Really intense. And then we went down and took a little tuk-tuk to the bottom of the hill and he started screaming at the cab driver. We had literally only been out of this retreat environment for moments. I mean, he started laughing. We all started laughing at it. But still, it was such a funny thing. So that's what I think of as the two. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:45 Highlight the passage at 1:22:45

1:23:06 And realization is what we need to have in order to... To become buddhists basically, to gain enlightenment, to actually gain all the realizations that we need. Because enlightenment happens gradually over time. It's not like you're going to have one big aha moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:06 Highlight the passage at 1:23:06

1:23:23 So Pabanka Rinpoche, I'll give you a quote. Speaking of liberation in the palm of your hands or liberation in your hands. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:23 Highlight the passage at 1:23:23

1:23:35 On his section on how to meditate on the stages of enlightenment, he said, once you are overcome by insensitivity to Dharma, your mind stream becomes ruined and you are incapable of being tamed, even by the lamrim or the blessed words of your guru. So apply yourself to the profound method for avoiding insensitivity to Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:35 Highlight the passage at 1:23:35

1:23:55 This is achieved through the blessings of your guru's speech, along with your own efforts to listen to Dharma properly. So however much understanding you gain through hearing Dharma, it's vital to generate soon afterward the understanding which comes from a reflection. So it's just really important to take it to that next step of really thinking about it each time, like after class, thinking about it. And traditionally they actually say that... Report an error in the passage at 1:23:55 Highlight the passage at 1:23:55

1:24:19 We should review our notes three times before the next teaching. You know, I have tried to do this, especially during, if you're in a sort of, you know, when His Holiness, for example, is teaching every day for four days or something, to really try to review it a couple of times before the next. And it really does go in deeper. You really feel the difference if you can take that time. A lot of us don't have that opportunity. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:19 Highlight the passage at 1:24:19

1:24:45 When I say generate, it is, he does point out soon afterwards. He does mention that time period that it is really good to contemplate soon afterwards. But at least to make a point, to try to do, you know, I'll give you all these homework assignments. Maybe your life's really busy right now, you've got a lot of contract work and you can't do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:45 Highlight the passage at 1:24:45

1:25:06 Keep them and meditate on them a little bit later. Maybe take a bunch of your homework into a weekend and just... Lock all the doors, turn off the phones, turn off the computers and just meditate on them all weekend. You know, I mean, make it happen where you're going to have some time to really contemplate this stuff because it's really, really important and it will literally change your life. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:06 Highlight the passage at 1:25:06

1:25:27 It'll change all your lives from now to come. So that's my spiel. This class is where the rubber meets the road in terms of integrating all the teachings that you may have received up until this point. And all the ones that of course you receive during this class. It's sort of taking it to the next level in transforming your minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:27 Highlight the passage at 1:25:27

1:25:53 Because otherwise it just becomes more Dharma knowledge and it's like just one more interesting thing to do in San Francisco. And it will be that for some of you. And there's, you know, it's a karmic thing. But if you don't want that to happen. Then it becomes really important for you to take it to that next level. And if you don't have time to meditate, you know, look at the meditation assignment and contemplate it while you're on the bus. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:53 Highlight the passage at 1:25:53

1:26:21 You know, like just take five minutes to think about it every morning. That in and of itself is a huge step in the right direction. So even if your life's really, really busy. I've done that before. I actually talked with Venable Renee at one point when I was just like, and actually with Lama Zopa too. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:21 Highlight the passage at 1:26:21

1:26:38 Sometimes it does get really, really crazy and you just don't have time to deeply meditate on this stuff but just read through. Again, René's little Swiss accent, he's just like, you just sit in a little chair, no special posture, you just read through lamrim and think and then you read another and think. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:38 Highlight the passage at 1:26:38

1:26:57 And it's true and you can do that and you get so much out of it. It actually infuses your life with a completely different outlook. So it doesn't have to be serious. Meditation on, you know, just is letting it go from the head to the heart, you know, it's like from the neck down. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:57 Highlight the passage at 1:26:57

1:27:17 How many of you do some kind of meditation now or do some kind of daily practice? And when I say now, it doesn't mean like you just did it this morning, just in general in your life. How many of you are doing something or familiar with meditation in some way? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:17 Highlight the passage at 1:27:17

1:27:36 No, you don't have to sign a contract. No, just are familiar with meditation. I guess let me put it the opposite way. How many of you, I wrote a little document that some of you have already gotten, which is sort of like building a meditation practice. How many of you would like a copy of that document? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:36 Highlight the passage at 1:27:36

1:27:56 Yeah, so let me do, okay, hold your hands up again. Maybe I'll just bring them next time. So we'll do one, two, three, four, five. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:56 Highlight the passage at 1:27:56

1:28:08 Six. Okay. Great. That way you guys are kind of all in the same. Because sometimes what different traditions think of as meditation, it's different too. I know in this one we talk a lot about not just arranging the body and the posture and things like that, but also arranging the mind. So things you do to prepare your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:08 Highlight the passage at 1:28:08

1:28:28 And of course arranging the place and all the things about the altar. So it kind of is all in one place. Um, um. But for this week's assignment, I just have you guys, if you don't already sit down and meditate, the first step is deciding that you will. That's really important. It's like deciding to exercise, right? Deciding to go to that gym. But it's deciding also where you will. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28:28

1:28:57 So like if you have a tiny little apartment, you could still find one little place, even if you have to move your cushion. During the day and put it back out, that's okay. Deciding where you're going to have your altar. And an altar can be totally simple. Don't feel like you have to do this. It'll say in the document. Basically, you just want it to be a really inspiring place where you want to come. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:57 Highlight the passage at 1:28:57

1:29:26 know so I mean you Usually traditional things are to have some sort of image of the Buddha's body, speech and mind there. So it could be pictures. I did that for a long time. I was in a sublet and I didn't have any space. I had a windowsill. It was literally like the size of that windowsill. It was shorter, but that narrow. And so I just had a picture of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:26 Highlight the passage at 1:29:26

1:29:46 I think I had actually Rinpoche, but that counted as the Buddha for me. And then a picture of a stupa. And then, oh, Little Pema Chodron, those little mini books, you know, those little tiny, because that's the text, that's the Dharma. So you can make it really, really tiny. It doesn't have to be elaborate. But something about it should make you happy so that you want to go there. So that's the most important aspect of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:46 Highlight the passage at 1:29:46

1:30:17 We are going to talk a lot about sort of how to set up a meditation. We, as... Report an error in the passage at 1:30:17 Highlight the passage at 1:30:17

1:30:22 We're going to talk about what's called the six preparatory practices. Geshe-la is also going to teach on the six preparatory practices and he's going to teach over six weeks on them. So that's how deeply you can go into them. We're going to cover them in one week. He's going to do his talks beginning in February on Sunday mornings on the six preparatory practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:22 Highlight the passage at 1:30:22

1:30:45 We're going to look at what we should be meditating on, what the different types of meditation are, because especially in the Galupa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, we have what's called analytical meditation, and that's really going to be, for most of us, the most powerful kind of meditation that we're going to do right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:45 Highlight the passage at 1:30:45

1:31:08 Also, how long should we meditate on something? Because we have this kind of habit in the West, and this I speak from experience, of kind of doing what interests us for as long as we want to. That's not how we're going to gain realizations, actually. It's usually doing something, doing a meditation on something like some of the meditations that we did. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:08 Highlight the passage at 1:31:08

1:31:31 I bring up the death meditations because I think it's something that none of us, we don't really have a big argument about believing in death. There's not a big discussion. I think most of us here in the room would agree that we're going to die. I don't have to convince you of that. But it really helps to meditate on it because it changes your life in terms of, like I said, how you act, how you act towards others and how you prioritize your life. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31:31

1:31:59 Think about it just from the example of those people, if you've ever known anyone who's had a terminal diagnosis, how it changes their life, like things that they do that are... That might have gotten pushed to the back burner and suddenly they're going to do it. You're going to kind of go for it, right? That's the idea of the death meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:59 Highlight the passage at 1:31:59

1:32:17 So you do Lamrim meditations until you get some taste and then you move on. Now that could be a year, actually. We won't do that in this class because we aren't together long enough. But it really honestly could be... At least a couple of months of doing the same meditation over and over. So that's an important point to make because a lot of times we don't do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:17 Highlight the passage at 1:32:17

1:32:47 We get kind of tired of it. A friend of mine, Kendall, who is doing long retreat right now. She talks in the last, I think it's actually in the karma class, she was talking, or maybe, I can't remember which class it is, it might actually be in this class, the video for this class, the DB video that we watch on the practice day, about how she finally decided, no I think it was presenting the path, she finally decided that she wanted to spend like a year on each topic. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:47 Highlight the passage at 1:32:47

1:33:20 And so she really started doing that and she spent like a year on precious human rebirth. And that's when she started really feeling her mind shift. And so it's kind of like what the Dalai Lama says, you know, we've got to take this long view too. Like there's a certain amount of commitment and time we have to put into this path. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:20 Highlight the passage at 1:33:20

1:33:43 And we never know when sudden aha moments are going to come, right? We don't know. It could be tonight. Like the minute you go home, it could be you could have an aha moment. But there's also then you just have to create the daily practice to create the conditions for those aha moments to come, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:43 Highlight the passage at 1:33:43

1:33:59 And you can't live for those aha moments. Just like you can't live for, you know, the one minute mile. You know, you just have to still, you got to run every day. And you just don't know what's going to happen. You can't have expectations about it. So I know that for me, my taste of that came the very first solar retreat I did. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:59 Highlight the passage at 1:33:59

1:34:21 Lama Zopa Rinpoche told me to meditate on death and impermanence every day for that six and a half week retreat. And so I meditated. And that wasn't the purpose of the retreat. The purpose of the retreat was something completely different. But I did a session in the morning of... On death and then a session every night on impermanence. And it completely changed my life. It just completely changed my life. And like I said, that wasn't even the purpose of the retreat, as far as I knew. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:21 Highlight the passage at 1:34:21

1:34:48 It was me attempting to do some practice really badly. So he often does this, and he's done this for me recently, where he gives you the entire lamrim in these really interesting, like do this one for three months and then do this one for three weeks. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:48 Highlight the passage at 1:34:48

1:35:08 Who knows where he gets these numbers from, but I think he's actually seeing what your mind is like. Sometimes I've heard him say, meditate on this until you gain realizations. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:08 Highlight the passage at 1:35:08

1:35:19 So I'm like, okay. Or do this whole thing. With me, he said, do this, this, and this, and this. And then you go all the way through the Lama room. And then you just start over. And you keep doing it until you gain realization. So as far as I'm concerned, it's for the rest of my life. Yeah, exactly. So you're just kind of like, sure, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:19 Highlight the passage at 1:35:19

1:35:38 All right, you know. And so in his mind, it's that repeated, it's like you're basting in the lamrim. It's like you're basting your mind constantly in the lamrim. And he's not saying it's going to happen tonight, but he's also saying you better sit tonight and do something towards it. So it's like the combination of the two, long term and also you still got to do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:38 Highlight the passage at 1:35:38

1:36:06 But they say that this is really the only way that our mind becomes the Dharma, that we close that gap. We have to sit, we have to do the meditation. We also are going to talk a lot about what we do between sessions. Tibetan Buddhists have a great phrase of post-meditative session. Sounds like very formal, right? That's basically the other 23 and a half hours of your day, including your sleep. So we're going to talk about that too, like how to, and you'll see that in your syllabus. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:06 Highlight the passage at 1:36:06

1:36:40 There's, you know, how to look at your waking, your eating, your sleeping, your resting. I mean, it's like your cleaning. Like there's ways to look at every single thing that you do. They just didn't have buses. You know, at the time of the Buddha. But they would have included bus riding on there if that were the case. You know, it's basically there's no downtime. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:40 Highlight the passage at 1:36:40

1:37:02 You know, because you're watching TV and it's a dharmic exercise. You're reading the paper, it's a dharmic exercise. Like, everything is a different kind of practice. And it's just, that's actually what keeps it lively. You know, that's what keeps it. There's never a time that you're not. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:02 Highlight the passage at 1:37:02

1:37:20 Integrating this in some way. And the more that you've basted your mind, of course, the more that's true for you. At first it's a little bit, you're trying to make Reading People magazine a Dharma experience. But eventually there's no way that it couldn't be. Like you're in tears for Brittany. You know, I mean, I'm like, literally I'm looking at what's happening to her and I'm just like, I am, I want to add her to our prayer list. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:20 Highlight the passage at 1:37:20

1:37:44 It's just, you know, because I see this suffering being, you know. So it just all becomes like that. We'll also talk about what to do if you're practicing really hard and nothing's happening, like you're not seeing any changes. You know, we were just talking about how to tell if your practice is working, and if that's not working, like what do you do? And so we'll talk a lot about when to do purification practices, what that means, what those practices are, and also accumulation of merit. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:44 Highlight the passage at 1:37:44

1:38:20 And His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that if you can look back over the course of a year and see that your mind is just a little bit better now than it was a year ago. I love His Holiness because he's so kind. In terms of how quick you are to get angry or to blame another. Or in terms of being able to have compassion for poor old Britney Spears. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:20 Highlight the passage at 1:38:20

1:38:43 Or you're not seeing things as concretely. You know, unable to change as maybe you did a year ago. You have a little bit more easygoingness, as Lama Eshi would say. That's an indication that your practice is working. So that kind of thing should be happening over time. It should be showing up in your daily life, you know, and how you're reacting to things that are happening to you. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:43 Highlight the passage at 1:38:43

1:39:10 Will bad things still happen once you start practicing Buddhism? Yeah, I get emails from students all the time that are kind of like, well, when does this stop? When does this purification stop? When does the suffering stop? And it's like, well, I wasn't a Buddha last time I checked, so I guess it's still going to happen. Considering the fact that if you have any understanding or any belief at all in the fact that the Buddha said that we have had limitless lifetimes and that we've been creating... Report an error in the passage at 1:39:10 Highlight the passage at 1:39:10

1:39:41 Far more negative than positive karma, which then ripens as our suffering. We actually have quite a bit to rip out, you know, by the roots. And I've personally only been doing it for 12 years. So, you know, actually it's kind of amazing that I'm not on a gurney in terms of possible karmic ripening. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:41 Highlight the passage at 1:39:41

1:40:03 So it takes a while. We're always going to, I mean, really in this lifetime, we're going to have negative things happen to us because we've created karma for them to happen. Practice is about how we're going to deal with them. It's like the ball's already in the air. Are we going to swing? Are we going to stand there while it hits us in the face? Are we going to yell at it? How we react to it is a lot about how we practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:03 Highlight the passage at 1:40:03

1:40:32 We're going to talk about practices like prostrations to the 35 Buddhas, which is a really powerful practice that Lama Zopa Rinpoche suggests to do every morning. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:32 Highlight the passage at 1:40:32

1:40:44 In fact, there is the final module of the Discovering Buddhism series is on a number of sort of integrative practices like Prostrations, Nune, which is a special purification retreat, which I'm trying to arrange to have another one done here this year. My children's agreed to do it when she gets at a retreat, actually, so maybe in the fall. Vajrasattva practice. And anyway, what we will talk about, a lot of those relate to what's called the preliminary practices, and so we'll talk about those in this class as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:44 Highlight the passage at 1:40:44

1:41:28 and um Rinpoche especially gave advice to Discovering Buddhism students about how to start each day and what to do at night. And so we'll talk about those as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:28 Highlight the passage at 1:41:28

1:41:44 And then we're going to talk about things like prayers. What prayers really are, which is not just mechanically reading something over and over again, or like I said, reading in another language something that you don't understand. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:44 Highlight the passage at 1:41:44

1:42:01 They have everything to do with what's going on in your mind, which of course is what Buddhism is all about. um um Report an error in the passage at 1:42:01 Highlight the passage at 1:42:01

1:42:15 We'll talk about what those minds are that we're trying to generate. So, you know, when we talk about mind of refuge or mind of bodhicitta, our mind of generosity, a mind of kindness, it's like that's what we're trying to generate. It's not just saying the words, you know, for the sake of all sentient beings, you know, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:15 Highlight the passage at 1:42:15

1:42:38 it's not that, you know, that's not prayers. It's these minds that we're generating. And I'm getting a taste of that mind and we're doing that over and over so that ultimately there'll be no gap between that mind and our mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:38 Highlight the passage at 1:42:38

1:42:55 And finally we'll talk about sort of the opportunity or the incredible. An incredibleness, if that's a word, of just having the precious human rebirth that we have right now. Because all of us in this room have a precious human rebirth to some degree or you wouldn't even be here. And a precious human rebirth isn't the same as having a human rebirth because we definitely know a lot of humans that don't have a very good life. It's a particular set of... Report an error in the passage at 1:42:55 Highlight the passage at 1:42:55

1:43:23 um, of, um, um Positive conditions that have all come together and they say that we ourselves have created this through our past good karma, our past prayers and our past morality, which in this context just means non-harm and our past generosity. And so knowing that if we want to create another one, that's important to keep in our mind too. If we want to create the causes of having another great opportunity after we leave this life. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:23 Highlight the passage at 1:43:23

1:43:54 That's something to bear in mind when we're doing our practice. So do we have any questions before I do a really fast version of the final meditation? Report an error in the passage at 1:43:54 Highlight the passage at 1:43:54

1:44:05 And also I want to make an announcement about upcoming stuff. Anything? Wow. All of them were at the beginning about the logistics. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:05 Highlight the passage at 1:44:05

1:44:19 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:19 Highlight the passage at 1:44:19

1:44:24 You're going to talk about mantras while meditating? you. Worst one, huh? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:24 Highlight the passage at 1:44:24

1:44:28 We will talk a little bit about mantra. Probably you know more about mantra. You can do that as your final presentation. But we will talk a little bit about mantra. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:28 Highlight the passage at 1:44:28

1:44:40 I wanted to make a quick announcement about two things that are coming up. One of them is the next Discovering Buddhism class, which is the Thursday night class, which starts the 24th of January. And that is on Seeking Refuge. So that is both... Generating the mind of refuge, what that means. And then also formally taking refuge, which is considered to be the gateway into the Buddhist path, sort of when you engage with the Buddhist path. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:40 Highlight the passage at 1:44:40

1:45:11 So that's what that class will be about. And we'll also talk about what the refuge precepts are, if you decide to take that stuff, and also the lay vows for people that are interested in taking lay vows. So I wanted to tell you that. It's also a six-week class, and I'm also teaching it. And then there's also a one-day class that I'm a little worried is getting missed with all the other great things that are happening. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:11 Highlight the passage at 1:45:11

1:45:35 It's called the Five Wishes, Stating Your Five Wishes, I think is the title of it. We talked about the Five Wishes document in the Death and Rebirth class, and also we did a workshop last fall with... Two presenters, Lenny Kronish, who is a nurse in the Santa Cruz area, hospice nurse for many, many years, and also the founder of Tarahome, and Tenzin Chokyi, who also was instrumental with the founding of Tarahome and has worked there for a while. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:35 Highlight the passage at 1:45:35

1:46:09 And that was called Dying Well. And in the course of that workshop, we talked about a document that's called the Five Wishes document. And that document is, it's like the... A cross between an advanced health directive and also being able to state what you want spiritually at the time of your death and just after, which is important for Buddhists, how you're handled at the time of your death. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:09 Highlight the passage at 1:46:09

1:46:33 So I asked Leni to come back up on the 19th and she's... Just going to go from 10.30 to 2.30 or something like that with a lunch break. And she's just going to introduce the document and for people that are interested, start walking us through filling out our own. It's a really great document to have. For those of us that have attended... Report an error in the passage at 1:46:33 Highlight the passage at 1:46:33

1:46:55 Deaths of loved ones where they didn't have in writing what they wanted. You can really see how it can go really horribly wrong if that happens. I was at the death of my mom and apparently I was the only one. She had told what she wanted. She had never written it down and she had never discussed it with any other kid. It could have gone horribly wrong. Fortunately, it didn't and everyone believed me. And we all felt the same and we had amazing harmony on that. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:55 Highlight the passage at 1:46:55

1:47:25 But after that, I came home and immediately filled out my wishes document because I was like, wow, that could just go so horribly wrong. Not that long, about a year afterwards, I attended the death of a student and his partner had a durable power of attorney and I saw how... Quickly and how much respect that partner's wishes were received by the hospital personnel. And I just thought, it's just so important to have this stuff in writing. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:25 Highlight the passage at 1:47:25

1:47:53 And doing it is a huge spiritual exercise, not surprisingly. Because you have to face your own immortality. I mean, your own immortality. Your own mortality. So, and you have to think about, you know. What would you want in that situation where you can't say for yourself what you want? It's funny, actually. It's kind of an interesting process. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:53 Highlight the passage at 1:47:53

1:48:19 And I've known people to have a lot of problems, and I've also known people to just whack it out in an afternoon. So it's an interesting thing. And so I just decided to have this workshop, and I'm really trying to now make sure people know about it and how important it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:19 Highlight the passage at 1:48:19

1:48:37 Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It just gives more time for that, which they weren't able to do at the Dying Well. Sarah asked, for the listener at home, Sarah asked if you attended the Dying Well workshop, if it was relevant to come to just the Five Wishes document workshop. Yes, indeed it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:37 Highlight the passage at 1:48:37

1:49:01 Yeah, because at the Dying Well workshop they really only had really brief time to introduce the idea of the document and some of the things that might come up for people filling it out, but no time to work on it together. And this one will actually be time for you to just kind of start thinking and then come back together and talk about it. So it's just more space. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:01 Highlight the passage at 1:49:01

1:49:20 And we never make the space to do this. So this is like a way to kind of get started on it. It's like writing a will. Who the heck ever wants to do that? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:20 Highlight the passage at 1:49:20

1:49:30 The 19th, it's a Saturday. And like I said, it's like 10.30 to 2.30, something like that. Coming up a couple weeks. So we don't really have time to do this final meditation. But this is, I can do a really short version of it. How's that? To end you with a bang. So I just, again, just check your posture. I won't go through it. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:30 Highlight the passage at 1:49:30

1:49:58 If you're feeling at all sleepy, you really want to focus on keeping that. Spine extended. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:58 Highlight the passage at 1:49:58

1:50:10 And take a nice deep breath and then just let it out. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:10 Highlight the passage at 1:50:10

1:50:19 And bring back around you all those beings that we started the class with. Remembering that they all have this wish for happiness just like you. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:19 Highlight the passage at 1:50:19

1:50:34 And they all have a wish to avoid all pain and suffering just like you. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:34 Highlight the passage at 1:50:34

1:50:42 They all have hopes and dreams just like you. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:42 Highlight the passage at 1:50:42

1:50:51 You can think about all the things that make them happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:51 Highlight the passage at 1:50:51

1:50:58 And just think about your connection with all of them. Even those you don't feel like you know at all or those that you're having problems with right now. In this one really basic way, they're exactly the same as you. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:58 Highlight the passage at 1:50:58

1:51:24 And then imagine in a space in front of you is Shakyamuni Buddha, completely made of golden light. And his essence is this pure, unconditional, compassionate love. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:24 Highlight the passage at 1:51:24

1:51:52 Imagine that his face is peaceful and smiling. And that he's radiating to you and everyone around you, Report an error in the passage at 1:51:52 Highlight the passage at 1:51:52

1:52:03 compassion, wisdom, tolerance, love. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:03 Highlight the passage at 1:52:03

1:52:19 You can imagine him in this aspect of a monk, but again completely made of golden light and radiating this light outwards. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:19 Highlight the passage at 1:52:19

1:52:34 Imagine that light is pouring out of every pore of his body and reaching every being in the universe without exception. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:34 Highlight the passage at 1:52:34

1:53:01 So in your own mind, You can ask for a blessing on this path for whatever you need. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:01 Highlight the passage at 1:53:01

1:53:16 And maybe it's help developing the discipline of a daily practice. But whatever it is that you're asking for, think of it not just for yourself but for the benefit of all. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:16 Highlight the passage at 1:53:16

1:53:42 So we're just going to recite his mantra for a moment. And as you recite his mantra, you can just visualize the light pouring out of him into you and then from you into all beings around you. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:42 Highlight the passage at 1:53:42

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:54:29 That Report an error in the passage at 1:54:29 Highlight the passage at 1:54:29

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:55:20 Shakyamuni comes to the crown of your head and facing the same direction as you and that he melts into a stream of golden light that enters your crown and fills your heart completely with everything you need to do this path, everything you need to do whatever your request was, Report an error in the passage at 1:55:20 Highlight the passage at 1:55:20

1:55:47 all of his blessings, all of his instruction, advice, realizations. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:47 Highlight the passage at 1:55:47

1:55:55 And imagine that your body, speech and mind become completely one with Gershaki Muni's body, speech and mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55:55

1:56:08 As Lama Yeshe says, like pouring water into water. And Report an error in the passage at 1:56:08 Highlight the passage at 1:56:08

1:56:25 we'll take a moment to dedicate this class to the happiness of every being, all those beings surrounding you, to your own happiness, to creating the causes for that happiness and to eliminating all the causes of suffering. For you and for every living being. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:25 Highlight the passage at 1:56:25

1:56:53 And to each of us being able to close that gap so that our minds can become one with the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:53 Highlight the passage at 1:56:53

1:57:08 That's it. Thank you. That's the really short five minute version. But you can just stretch it all out this week. This will be your homework assignment so you can definitely take more time with it. And don't worry if you have a hard time visualizing. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:08 Highlight the passage at 1:57:08